Panda.Think you will find the actual unemployment rate is considerably higher than that ! Official figures probably say close to 3 Million unemployed but i suspect there are lots they dont include like those on long term benefits or disability etc.I would guess it is closer to 5 Million unemployed if truth be known,possibly more if you include all those students who get sent to University to do pointless degrees just to keep them off the list.

Hi Lioned, the million refers to youth unemployment the total rate is 8% which I presume includes everyone eligible to work. King was grilled by several Economy experts from the major U.K. Press, he admitted that he expected the inflation rate to fall and said it may be necessary todo more QE next year.

Even Germany has revised its growth rate to .5% so even if you have full employment , who are you going to sell to ???? At the moment there is a price war in Food sales in the run up to Christmas.

I think David Cameron should release another £5 billion stashed in the Treasury to small businesses so they have a chance to expand and take on more staff. The way the world is at the moment anything is possible, the U.K. is very vulnerable to what happens in the EU.

Personally i believe the real inflation rate is somewhere between 15 and 20%.I dont know what they put in their shopping basket nowadays but if you look at fuel and the incredible shrinking packages then i think i'm closer to the truth than 'they' are.

Lioned wrote:Personally i believe the real inflation rate is somewhere between 15 and 20%.I dont know what they put in their shopping basket nowadays but if you look at fuel and the incredible shrinking packages then i think i'm closer to the truth than 'they' are.

I agree. I have to wear black for work and wear just cheap cotton trousers from a supermarket. And I do mean cheap! They were £4 a pair a few weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a few more pairs at the old price because they were going up in price. There was a rail with small and large sizes: 8,10 & 20, 22, at the old price and a rail at the opposite end of the aisle with a whole range of sizes, identical item, but now priced at £8. Luckily for me, I wear 8 or 10 and bought up the last of those sizes, four pairs.

I've noticed hikes in prices of things I buy regularly. Supermarkets are trying to fool us by putting items up as special offers that were actually cheaper until fairly recently.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________"You can run on for a long time, Run on for a long time, Run on for a long time, Sooner or later God'll cut you down." (Johnny Cash)

Lioned wrote:Personally i believe the real inflation rate is somewhere between 15 and 20%.I dont know what they put in their shopping basket nowadays but if you look at fuel and the incredible shrinking packages then i think i'm closer to the truth than 'they' are.

Lioned, I think the price of Oil is the biggest reason for inflation, but this crisis is something else. Analysts are suggesting that Greece andPortugal will be the first to default , it will take Greece in particular generations to pay off it"s debt but......where are any of us going to make money through exports? Which Country does not have a problem ? Germany is the only Country with a stable economy , but even their forecast for next year is only .5% and they are considering leaving the EU.!!!!

Lioned wrote:So all this 'Debt' business.Who do Greece owe money to then ? And why does it matter ? Simple answer is dont lend them anymore.Same to everyone else.

Mostly European Banks Lioned. I distinctly remember that initially no Country was supposed to borrow more than 3% of it"s GDP, it was Italyand either France or spain who were the first to go OTT but they were never penalised. There has been no regulation of these Countries at all and when you think they are all tied to one currency it"s ridiculous. The EU accounts could not be signed off for years because the Auditors said there was insufficient information in the books, so this was a disaster waiting to happen.

HAVE YOU HEARD THE FOLLOWING?SOME PEOPLE ARE GOING TO TAKE THE GOVERNMENT TO COURT BECAUSE THEY ARE SAYING THAT THE TRAINING SCHEMES ARE A VIOLOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS BECAUSE THEY AMOUNT TO ENFORCED LABOUR.

SEPARATLY,I WONDER IF MANY UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE SHOULD START AN ECOMMERCE WEBSITES.

Badboy wrote:HAVE YOU HEARD THE FOLLOWING?SOME PEOPLE ARE GOING TO TAKE THE GOVERNMENT TO COURT BECAUSE THEY ARE SAYING THAT THE TRAINING SCHEMES ARE A VIOLOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS BECAUSE THEY AMOUNT TO ENFORCED LABOUR.

SEPARATLY,I WONDER IF MANY UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE SHOULD START AN ECOMMERCE WEBSITES.

It would be better for the government to create jobs rather than pay benefits for doing nothing.There is so much to be done if you just look around you.I am not just talking about the obvious deterioration of the infrastructure,ie roads and pavements etc,but that is a good one.Also there is 'Care working',and training and schools and hospitals that all need extra help.

So what to do ?

Well you get some paid supervisors and then some unemployed people and put them in teams and then just get on with it.

I could arrange it And if people dont want to work then they can live off the soup kitchen and give up their X box's and bags of crisps.

A few years ago the new Mayor of Wisconsin in the States set about cleaning up the State and went about it by:-

1. Opening free creches for Mothers to be able to go out to work. They were found jobs and if they left of their own accord their benefits were stopped. One 40 odd year old Mother who had 4 children by 4 different men complained her responsibility was to be a Mother had to clean fire hydrants.

2. Overhauling the Education system which was turning out badly educated teenagers with no basic abilities , such as reading writing and arithmetic.

3. Overhauled the Police which had a lot of corruption and lack of connectivity with the people.

He was hugely successful ,helped by Staff who had the same dedication and his methods were used as a role model for other States, Britaincould benefit today from his vision.

Badboy wrote:INTERESTINGLY IF YOU GO ON CAREERJET.CO.UK,THEY SAY THEY HAVE 2.2 MILLION JOBS IN THE UK.

Hi Badboy, Goodness knows where the 2 million jobs are, the Banking industry have shed thousands of jobs recently in addition to the existing unemployed. It"s grim all over the World and unless there is growth unemployment will be with us for a long time.

Aha! You've got a good point there, Badboy. That won't affect the supermarkets so much, but local newsagents certainly. And if people aren't popping in for their daily newspaper, then they're not buying the incidentals, like a few chocolate bars or other bits and pieces.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________"You can run on for a long time, Run on for a long time, Run on for a long time, Sooner or later God'll cut you down." (Johnny Cash)

Badboy wrote:I GOT THAT IDEA FROM AN ARTICLE(GUARDIAN,METHINKS!),THAT TALKED ABOUT IT.

Hi Badboy, add another 20,000 thousand to that figure .

It looks as though the U.K. is in for a hard 2012, Moodys is considering downgrading Britain, Mervyn King says the U.K. is in for a tough time , analysts are saying Britain is in recession and the shopping splurge will do little for the future economy. Batten down the hatches I say and let it all unravel, theWorld is facing recession, but yet again the Mega Rich will come out of this unscathed.

IT WAS SAYING IN THE GUARDIAN TODAY THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS CUTTING BACK ON CONNEXIONS AND OTHER SERVICES THAT ADVISE SCHOOL LEAVERS/YOUNG PEOPLE ON CAREER CHOICES,INSTEAD THEY ARE TELLING SUCH PEOPLE TO GO ON A WEBSITE,THEY ARE ALSO CUTTING BACK ON LITERACY ETC CLASSES THAT COULD IMPROVE JOB PROSPECTS.

Badboy wrote:IT WAS SAYING IN THE GUARDIAN TODAY THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS CUTTING BACK ON CONNEXIONS AND OTHER SERVICES THAT ADVISE SCHOOL LEAVERS/YOUNG PEOPLE ON CAREER CHOICES,INSTEAD THEY ARE TELLING SUCH PEOPLE TO GO ON A WEBSITE,THEY ARE ALSO CUTTING BACK ON LITERACY ETC CLASSES THAT COULD IMPROVE JOB PROSPECTS.

Literacy classes should never be a Government project, the Schools should be holding Evening classes for failing to teach basic education while the pupils are still in school.!!!

Several U.S.Banks shares have gone down today, 100 to 120 Sears Stores are closing down so maybe the US upturn was just a blip.